German Enlightenment at Revolution's Dawn: Featuring "The Secret of the Order of Cosmopolitans", "Ideas for a Philosophy of the History of Mankind, Book 15"

Two groundbreaking texts from the German Enlightenment—one written on the eve of the French Revolution, the other during its early years—available in modern English translation for the first time.

Christoph Martin Wieland's "The Secret of the Order of Cosmopolitans" (1788) offers a fascinating exploration of secret societies and moral dilemmas on the precipice of revolutionary change. "Such an oath creates a state within a state," warns Wieland, a prominent Freemason, as he examines the shad...